Let's vote Phil Crabb out of office

A few weeks ago, I attended a freeholder meeting. I introduced myself as the Sussex Borough Council president, and also as the liaison to the freeholder board, as chosen and voted upon by the Sussex Borough Mayor and Council. I mentioned how in the past I, along with some other council members. have suggested that perhaps Sussex Borough should have someone representing our town on the SCMUA board of commissioners. This wasn't a new statement. They've heard it before. Ever since I got on the Borough Council, I've been saying this. I pointed out that the SCMUA appointments seem to be made on friendships, and who contributes to whose campaigns. Cronyism is alive and well in Sussex County. They didn't like hearing this. Too bad for them. I was elected to fight for my town and its citizens, and I have a right to speak freely. Or so I thought.

Then I mentioned that with what I was about to say next, I wasn't saying anything that pertained specifically to Sussex Borough. That day, in the Herald, an article appeared about an increase in fees for Sussex County Community College students. I mentioned how former freeholder Glenn Vetrano, and good friend of at least two current freeholders, Phil Crabb and Dennis Mudrick, unethically seconded a motion to have his own company, CP Engineering, appointed as the college's engineers. He then voted yes in the roll call vote, which is noted in the minutes from June 25, 2013. They didn't like hearing this statement either. Cronyism is the unfair practice of a powerful person (such as a politician) of giving jobs and other favors to friends. In a Herald article dated April 14, 2011, Vetrano speaks of his friendship with Crabb and Mudrick.

The next day, County Administrator John Eskilson called my town's administrator to complain that I had made an appearance and spoke badly about his good friend, Glenn Vetrano. Freeholders Phil Crabb and Dennis Mudrick called the mayor of my town to make a similar complaint. It's obvious I struck a nerve.

I then went to another freeholder meeting to voice my unhappiness about Phil Crabb, Dennis Mudrick, and John Eskilson trying to come between me and my first amendment right of speaking freely.

I will now go on to say that none of my statements ever appeared in the Herald even though Herald reporter Bruce Scruton was in the room. I have been told that Bruce Scruton and Phil Crabb are poker buddies and good friends. I smell a cover-up and it stinks. The residents of Sussex County deserve better.

So, let's get better. Let's vote Phil Crabb out of office. Aside from the rampant cronyism, attempts to stop my free speech, and the ugliness of ignoring the county's college students, there are other obvious reasons to vote him out of office. He makes about double what the other freeholders make because he receives an insurance package. He puts too much attention to his home town of Franklin. There are other towns in the county other than Franklin. These towns also have roads and bridges in need of attention. He's not a leader. Sussex County needs a leader. We need to have confidence and pride in our elected officials.

I encourage residents of the county to vote Phil Crabb out of office by voting for his opponent, Ron Bassani. Next year, we can vote out Mudrick.